Political power tends to overlap with economic power, thus favoring those with access to land, livestock, capital, and other productive resources; in virtually all societies women have fewer of those productive resources than men, which reflects and explains women's limited political power. Growing documentation indicates that men disproportionately benefit from rural development programs, such as educational and training opportunities, job placement, capital and technology transfers, and land commoditization. Until women participate more extensively in politics at all levels, they will continue to be marginalized in the development process. Utilizing women's organizations is a strategy which offers unique advantages for responding positively to modernization. The document's three part argument is drawn primarily from the scholarly and development practitioner literature. The first section reviews literature on women's participation in elite and mass politics and emphasizes rural women's organizational participation. The second section analyzes constraints on the organizational participation of women. The final section suggests policy implications in the areas of organizational strategies, employment/institutional strategies, and data collection. A 119-item bibliography concludes the document. (BRR)